Forming belt loops and attaching them to the waistband of a pair of trousers is a complex and labor intensive task if performed by hand. For this reason, there has been great interest in automating this operation as much as possible. Apparatus is known for automatically forming belt loops and feeding them to the waistband of a pair of blue jeans, for example. Although various types of this apparatus have been used commercially, they have not been entirely satisfactory. One problem that has arisen with the use of known types of beltloop forming and feeding apparatus is that the folded-under part at the ends of the length of beltloop material are longer than desired. After stitching the beltloop to the trousers, the free ends extend considerably beyond the stitching. It presently is common practice to pre-wash or stone-wash the jeans after completion, but before shipping from the factory. This washing process, and subsequent washings by the wearer, cause the free ends of the belt loops to become floppy and frayed. This is unsightly and undesirable in the very competitive jeans market where the appearance of quality is important.
To overcome the fraying of the beltloop ends, various different approaches have been tried, all requiring additional handling, additional equipment, and further expense. For example, one solution has been to manually cut off the extra lengths at the ends of the stitched beltloop. Some manufacturers dip the beltloop ends in a plastic substance that cures to prevent the ends from fraying. Other manufacturers have included a plastic material in the beltloop material. When the material is cut to desired lengths with a hot knife, the plastic melts in such a manner as to "seal" the ends to prevent fraying. Others have used a special knife that cuts the beltloop ends on the bias in such a manner as to minimize fraying.
An additional problem has arisen in finished jeans because of the way in which the folded-under ends of the belt loops have been formed. Known apparatus for forming the folded-under ends includes two spaced fingers that receive a beltloop end therebetween. One finger is rotated about the other, and in doing so, bends the beltloop material around the stationary finger. Not only does this operation form a folded-under end that is longer than necessary, but it has a tendency to stretch the beltloop material in the direction of its length. Even after stitching of the beltloop to the waistband, the cloth remains in its stretched condition. After washing, the formerly stretched material tends to bulge outwardly and the belt loops will not lie flat against the waistband. This is unsightly and detracts from the image of a quality product.
The apparatus and method of this invention overcome the problems mentioned above by automatically forming and feeding beltloops having shorter folded-under ends that are closely adjacent the stitching. In the prior art beltloop folding apparatus, the folded-under ends ranged in length from 7/16 to 1/2 inch. With my invention, I am able to form belt loops with only approximately 1/4 inch folded-under ends This substantially eliminates the problem of elongated frayed ends of the belt loops. Furthermore, when it is considered that each pair of jeans has seven belt loops, and approximately 450 million pairs of jeans were manufactured this past year, the amount of cloth that can be saved by the use of this invention is substantial.